Jek Wyngaard

"When a story is over, close the book."

-Jek Wyngaard, discussing the Crisis on Thule

Jek Wyngaard was a Force-sensitive Pantoran male who worked alongside the Jedi during the Haffrin Conflict.

Around 2 BBY, Jek was selected by Jedi Knight Neofius Ozzarak as part of a strike team to track down and the Sith Lord Darth Zandred and his darkside cult. What was initially going to be a brief mission turned into a year-long ordeal on Haffrin, as Ozzarak's largely untrained forces were stranded and isolated and forced to do battle against Zandred's growing number of followers.

Biography
Jek Wygaard was a Pantoran male, born in 25 BBY on the Pantoran moon, orbiting the planet Orto Plutonia. Discovered to be force-sensitive during his youth, he was taken to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant to begin his Jedi training.

Before his Initiate Training could be completed, Supreme Chancelor Palpatine initiated Operation Knightfall, led by the newly christened Darth Vader. Nearly all Jedi in the temple were killed by the Clone Troopers of the 501st Legion, if not Vader himself. However, Jek and a handful of other younglings were led to safety and smuggled off Coruscant by Jedi Knight Kol Halcyon, who through use of both meditation and Mechu Deru became aware of the attack on the temple just hours before it took place.

Halcyon knew that the survival of the younglings depended on them remaining inconspicuous. He made the difficult decision to leave the younglings at an orphanage on Botajef, trusting in the Force to guide their destinies. Jek fell in with the rest of the orphans and largely forgot his childhood Jedi training.

It wasn't until ten years later that came across a Jedi Holocron sitting in a junk shop window, which Jek instantly recognized and stole. Straining to remember his early teachings, Jek spent hours trying to telekinetically unlock the activation mechanism of the holocron.

Once activated, the holocron revealed the history of The Thule Conflict as well as the aftermath of the ordeal's final battle, recorded by Jedi Knight Trapp Radmal. In the end, Trapp was mortally wounded by a darkside cultist on Thule. Trapp recorded his final moments on the holocron, warning of the dangers of a resurrected Zaric and urging any surviving Jedi to go to Thule and aid Jedi Knight Neofius Ozzarak in defeating the Zarists.

Journey to Thule and work with the Jedi
Jek sold the few valuables he had and chartered a one-way trip to Thule. Upon his arrival, he quickly discovered the abandoned Jedi encampment. Jek spent the next three years investigating the remains of the ruins of the training facility and the surrounding area. He discovered more holocrons left behind by Jedi Master Caff K'iron and Jreygun Kel, as well as the SSITH, and began using them to train himself in the ways of the Jedi. Unbeknownst to Jek, he activated a distress beacon in the aged equipment which eventually was recognized by Neofius Ozzarak. Neofius was still trying to track down the Zarists, and upon receiving the distress signal, went immediately to Thule. There, he discovered a poorly trained Jek, in whom he saw potential. He gave Jek  Radmal's old lightsabers to wield. Given his rudimentary skills with a lightsaber, Jek began tinkering with Radmal's old saber staffs, preferring to wield a more conventional single lightsaber instead.

Jek accompanied Neofius to Haffrin, on the trail of what they believed to be the Zarists. However, it turned out instead to be the workings of Darth Zandred, a mysterious Sith Lord. Zandred had begun amassing an army of darksider acolytes, whom shortly thereafter sabotaged the Jedi's craft on Haffrin, effectively stranding them there.

Personality and Traits
"All the Jedi initiates were blank slates when they started out. But because you tried to train yourself, with questionable teachings no less, you've developed a lot of bad habits." -Neofius Ozzarak, discussing the nature of Jek's power.

Jek was an impulsive and impatient during his youth. Having no real authority figure in his life after being absconded from the Jedi Temple, he has a fierce independent streak.

Upon discovering Trapp Radmal's holocron, Jek adopted many of the grey Jedi's philosophies and views. Radmal felt that the Jedi's pacifistic tendencies had prevented them from predicting the Jedi Purge and had cost them the war. His disdain for many of the Jedi's tenants of non-violence and pacifism rubbed off on Jek.

Jek viewed the Jedi as a broken organization, much to the ire of Neofius. While Jek found a number of their views on life and the Force as important, he disagreed with many of their strict codes and moral authority. Even so, he still adopted the many customs of the Jedi lifestyle, to include dressing himself like one, and considered himself an agent of the Light Side of the Force.

Powers and Abilities:
"He has no real technique with a lightsaber, but that makes him unpredictable." -Vaysla Redd to Darth Zandred

Despite spending the first years of his childhood training rigorously to be a Jedi, many of his early teachings were forgotten. In their place, Jek learned how to take care of himself on the streets of Botajef. He was a skilled pickpocket and thief, and was able to move quickly despite his size.

Jek was a natural athlete, with a considerable amount of strength and size. His fighting abilities, while rudimentary, were effective enough to hold his own and survive on the streets of Botajef.

Due to the solitary nature of Jek's self-taught Force abilities, his powers were often out of control of erratic. Because of his fast, loose fighting style, he favored Ataru when using his lightsaber. Like the rest of his Jedi abilities, his saber skills were not as precise or well-honed as they otherwise could have been, but his strength, speed, and athleticism helped compensate slightly for this.